DIDSBURY - The Didsbury Terry Fox Run, which has been a staple in the community since 1983, is in danger of folding, say officials.
Coordinators of the Terry Fox Foundation are scrambling to find an individual or group to step up and organize the local run, which is scheduled to take place on Sept. 15.
The Didsbury Fire Department has been spearheading the annual event for the past couple of years but has stepped away.
Christie Krawchuk, community fundraising and events coordinator for the Terry Fox Foundation, said they were notified and have been trying to find a replacement to keep the run going.
"We certainly don't want to lose the run there," said Krawchuk. "It would be nice to get someone to step up and continue with it. It's such an important part of the foundation. These community runs that go on year after year in his legacy. So certainly we don't want to lose one."
The past Terry Fox runs in Didsbury have raised over $125,000 for cancer research through the foundation.
"It started there in 1983," she said. "It has been a part of your community since nearly the beginning. Didsbury is a huge part of the foundation."
Krawchuk said that the Terry Fox runs continue to be a major fundraiser in the foundation's battle against cancer.
"It's something that does touch every single person in one way or another," she said. "There's no one who can say they don't know someone with cancer, unfortunately. Hopefully, if we can continue on with our Terry Fox runs and with our research, we'll be able to fulfil Terry's dream of no one having to hear those words."
Krawchuk said the Terry Fox Foundation will be available to provide plenty of help to whoever steps up to organize the run.
"The event can be as big or little as your community or your organizer wants it to be," she said. "I say it's like a wedding. You need a date and you need a venue. Then it's just about getting the word out so people come.
"Beyond that it's as big or little as you want. I'm here as an event coach to help out. I'm just a call away or a short drive."
Anyone interested in helping out can call Krawchuk at 1-403-212-1336.
"We are solely driven by volunteers," she said. "We have one of the lowest staff-to-volunteer ratios in non-profits in Canada. For every 400 volunteers we have one staff member.
"That means that more money goes to where we want it to go -- to cancer research."
